Hi all, I got recommended from another forum to come here and try my luck! I just bought an Xbox for $40 which seemed to be a great deal, and it brought back memories of when I had my first Xbox. The guy who sold it to me said that he tested it out the night before for an hour and it worked fine, but if there were any problems, I could bring it back to him without a worry. Set it all up, wiped the memory clean, and removed the previous owner's XBL account (not that it matters in the Xbox's case since they no longer connect to XBL anymore), once I put in a game, it said it wasn't able to read it. I tried out an audio cd and a dvd, it worked perfectly. Thinking that the laser disc reader was dirty, I cracked open the console and cleaned it out with rubbing alcohol, put it back together, and still the same result. Is there any way to get it to read the games, or would I have to get a new laser disc reader? Or is there some update that is supposed to be downloaded, in which case wouldn't help, since it wouldn't be able to connect to XBL? As a backup, I have bought a new laser/lens reader online and I should get it in a couple of weeks just in case it's the reader itself that is bad. Any help is appreciated, thanks!
I'm not an XBOX guy, but it probably has 2 lenses, one for CD and one for DVD (regardless if it's a game, audio or video). If it reads fine Audio CDs and DVD-Video, then I think it's unlikely an issue with the laser itself. Have you tried several games? Are you trying original games, backups, or both?
Are these retail games your trying to play? I've had a couple systems that did that to me, only liked to play audio cds. If cleaning the laser lens with alcohol didn't help anything the only solution I found personally was just swapping in a new drive unfortunately.
I've tried original games; Halo, Halo 2, Celebrity Deathmatch, etc. And ToxicMedz, they're all retail, but I'm assuming if it is the drive, then replacing the lens is useless? A friend of mine said that because I would probably have to update the Xbox in order for me to play any of the games, however, there's not really any possible way to connect to the internet and update it to even test out that theory.
Nothing with updating, the laser is probably burning out. It's very similar to when games are detected as DVDs.
$40? Where do you live? I'd expect a fully working console for that much. Maybe you should've taken it back and got a refund. You can always try compressed air around the lenses to see if that clears any grime out. I had a drive that started reading again after doing that. Otherwise wait for your new laser, although a replacement drive/console might have been cheaper.
I only ever pick up my retail black xbox's from my local goodwill outlet, pay by weight. Only ever cost me about 7.50 but then I only buy if the look in good condition cuz I can't test them first, never know of they work or not.
I bought it at a Farmer's Market from one of the guys at a booth. Just by looking it it, the console was in good shape, just has a white little paint dab on the top to the side of the big X, nothing major. It was suspect when he said he "played it the night before and it worked fine," however, my thought process was that he wouldn't have given me a reassurance of bringing back the console to him if it didn't work. He also wrote down the serial in case such a situation happened. Whether or not he was giving me a dog and pony show, I don't know, but I'm all for fixing the console up if I can. How much would a replacement drive cost? I bought the laser for a decent price...It wasn't anything that was an inordinate amount to spend... And also where could I buy a said drive for a good price? If I have to go that route, I might as well try it out.
This is most definitely a burnt out drive! I only buy joblots of parts/not working boxes of ebay, and I never pay more than £5 per box. 75% of the problems with them is usually a burnt out drive. 20% of them is usually a burnt out power supply. I rarely find fried Mobos! (the missing 5%) They last forever if cared for! I suggest you put an ad up in WTB for a Samsung drive, or but a joblot of broken boxes for parts (what I do.) Chances are though that you'll get a shwag-ass Phillips drive out of a joblot..they are slow as balls, but it'll cure your problem. One of the beautiful things about the Original box is you can just swap drives with no flashing required! $40 for a box with a fried out drive??!! Sheeesh!
I've bought non-working systems before, I think the best one I picked up for $15. Had a massive dent in the top of the system and which dented the optical drive. DVD couldn't spin, so I just bent it back to shape and sold for $40.
